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Fast-track Approvals Act 2024

Fast-track approvals process - Referral of project to fast-track approvals process - Decision on referral application

21: Minister's decision on referral application

You could also call this:

"The Minister decides whether to approve a project for fast-track processing."

Illustration for Fast-track Approvals Act 2024

The Minister can accept a referral application if they are satisfied that the project meets certain criteria in section 22. You need to check if the project is a staged project, a project with an alternative, or a normal project. The Minister will look at the whole project or each stage of the project to decide if it meets the criteria.

If the Minister accepts a referral application, they can refer the whole or part of the project to the fast-track approvals process in accordance with section 26. The Minister must decline a referral application if it does not meet the criteria, or if the project involves an ineligible activity.

The Minister can also decline a referral application for other reasons, such as the project being inconsistent with a Treaty settlement, or the Ngā Rohe Moana o Ngā Hapū o Ngāti Porou Act 2019, or the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011. The Minister can decline a referral application at any time permitted by section 25.

The Minister is not prevented from accepting a referral application just because the project involves a prohibited activity under the Resource Management Act 1991. In this context, an "alternative" refers to a part of the project proposed as an alternative under section 13(4)(g), and a "staged project" means a project where a separate application is lodged for each stage.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS983062.

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20: Minister may request information, or

"The Minister can ask you for more information to help them decide on your application."

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22: Criteria for assessing referral application, or

"How the Minister decides if a project should be approved quickly"

Part 2Fast-track approvals process
Referral of project to fast-track approvals process: Decision on referral application

21Minister's decision on referral application

  1. The Minister may accept a referral application if the Minister is satisfied that,—

  2. in the case of a staged project,—
    1. the whole project meets the criteria in section 22; and
      1. each stage of the project would meet those criteria if considered as a stand-alone project:
      2. in the case of a project for which part of the project has been proposed as an alternative,—
        1. the whole project meets the criteria in section 22; or
          1. the part of the project that has been proposed as an alternative would meet those criteria if considered as a project in itself:
          2. in any other case, the project meets the criteria in section 22.

            1. If the Minister accepts a referral application, they may refer the whole or a part of the project to the fast-track approvals process in accordance with section 26.

            2. The Minister must decline a referral application if—

            3. the application may not be accepted under subsection (1); or
              1. the Minister is satisfied that the project involves an ineligible activity; or
                1. the Minister considers that they do not have adequate information to inform the decision under this section.

                  1. The Minister may decline a referral application for any other reason, whether or not the project meets the criteria in section 22.

                  2. Reasons to decline a referral application under subsection (4) include, without limitation, the following:

                  3. the project would be inconsistent with any of the following:
                    1. a Treaty settlement:
                      1. the Ngā Rohe Moana o Ngā Hapū o Ngāti Porou Act 2019:
                        1. the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011:
                          1. a Mana Whakahono ā Rohe:
                            1. a joint management agreement:
                            2. it would be more appropriate to deal with the matters that would be authorised by the proposed approvals under another Act or Acts:
                              1. the project may have significant adverse effects on the environment:
                                1. the applicant (or, if the referral application is lodged by more than 1 person, any of those persons) has a poor compliance history under a specified Act that relates to any of the proposed approvals:
                                  1. the project area includes land that the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations considers necessary for Treaty settlement purposes:
                                    1. the project includes an activity that is a prohibited activity under the Resource Management Act 1991:
                                      1. a substantive application for the project would have 1 or more competing applications:
                                        1. in relation to any proposed approval of the kind described in section 42(4)(a) (resource consent), there are 1 or more existing resource consents of the kind referred to in section 30(3)(a).

                                          1. The Minister may decline a referral application at any time permitted by section 25.

                                          2. To avoid doubt, the Minister is not prevented from accepting a referral application, or referring the whole or a part of a project to the fast-track approvals process, just because the project involves an activity that is a prohibited activity under the Resource Management Act 1991.

                                          3. In this section,—

                                            alternative, in relation to a project, means a part of the project that is proposed as an alternative project in itself under section 13(4)(g)

                                              staged project means a project for which the referral application states under section 13(4)(f)(ii) that a separate substantive application is to be lodged for each stage of the project.

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